Static
by vts
Summary: Kabuto reminds Sasuke of all the wrong people, and it's probably intentional. [various Sasuke pairings, but mainly KabuSasu]


**A/N:** This was originally supposed to be a Kakashi/Sasuke ficlet for a LiveJournal friend of mine. Quite obviously, it changed into something else. Pairings in this ficlet include Kabuto/Sasuke, Kakashi/Sasuke (subtle, though), Sakura/Sasuke, and only-there-if-you-squint Naruto/Sasuke.  
**Warnings:** Blood, implied slash, Sasuke angst. Set after chapter 181. Definition snagged from dictionary DOT reference DOT com.

* * *

**stat·ic**  
_adj._

1. Having no motion; being at rest; quiescent.  
2. Fixed; stationary.  
3. _Physics._ Of or relating to bodies at rest or forces that balance each other. _  
_4. _Electricity._ Of, relating to, or producing stationary charges; electrostatic.  
5. Of, relating to, or produced by random radio noise.

* * *

The first thing about Kabuto that irritated Sasuke was that he always smiled. 

Normally, he really wouldn't care. Plenty of people in Sound wore masks of cheer; in fact, he hardly knew most of their true faces. Emotional control was a key factor in simply getting by with Orochimaru as a ruler, and everybody knew that. No, what Sasuke didn't like about Kabuto was that, though he put on the same expression, it's probably the only one true to heart.

* * *

"Kabuto?" He is shirtless; the medic table is hard and uncomfortable, and there is blood dripping onto the paper from his cuts. Kabuto had made a face when he first saw him. 

Kabuto looks over while in the process of putting on latex gloves. "Sasuke-kun, you shouldn't try to sound disinterested like that. You are a horrifically bad actor."

Sasuke merely glares. "Why do you have to act like you know everything?"

Finished with the first step, Kabuto tips over a bottle of hydrogen peroxide into his fingers; it soaks the cotton easily, and it's seconds away from seeping to the floor before he saves it. "Well," he drawls, "I never knew that I was seen that way. But I suppose that if I am, then I do."

Sasuke keeps a close eye on him, but it seems that once he takes his eyes off for any reason, Kabuto immediately appears where he least wants him to be. He is beside him now, body twisted in a way that he could reach his back. "Hold still, Sasuke-kun," he says – his voice is sickeningly condescending, and Sasuke pretends not to pay attention to the heat he can feel coming off him.

When the peroxide is applied, Sasuke balls his hands into fists and grits his teeth. He knows he shouldn't, but he loses himself in the sting because there's nothing better to think about, like Sakura's eyes or Naruto's fury or _Kakashi…_

It all only impedes him in the end.

When Sasuke gains a respite from the agony, he knows exactly why. Kabuto's fingers are probing deftly into his shoulders; he tells himself that he won't react because it was _nothing_ like that one time, but he finds himself leaning back into him, anyway.

Without knowing it, he tips his head back to stare at Kabuto's smirk. He is reminded of the time when Kakashi sealed off the Curse Seal. He had muttered "Hold still," and, though his torso is bare and everything hurts, he is still comfortable in his vulnerability. He tells himself that he remembers this because it was nothing like what's happening now.

It isn't the first time.

* * *

Sasuke doesn't tell anybody, but he dreams of Konoha almost every night. Sometimes he sees Naruto. He's usually eating ramen, and then he looks up at Sasuke and breaks out into a grin. Sometimes he fights him, but the outcome is never revealed. Occasionally, he has nightmares of Naruto beating him into the ground. "You piece of shit, look at what you've done to yourself!" he'd yell, and Sasuke finds that hurts more than anything else. 

The dreams with Sakura are usually nicer. When he staggers into Konoha, bruised and bleeding, she runs to him, picks up one of his arms, and throws it around her shoulders. "I'll help you," she says, and sometimes Naruto comes, too. When he's in a hospital bed, she brings flowers, neatly arranged in a glass vase, and then sits to watch him. When he's healthy, she throws herself at him and tackles him to the ground. Unfortunately, she brings nightmares, too; sometimes she'll say "I never loved you," and leave him staggering on the ground. Sometimes she bursts into tears and punches him in the face, and Sasuke knows that that's probably what's going to happen.

His dreams with Kakashi are always the shortest. He'll usually be reading Icha Icha Paradise, and he'll take one look at him and actually put the book down. Other times, he follows him around, pestering him until finally tying him up so he can lecture him properly. Every now and then he'd simply vent, and Kakashi would nod and listen to him. But the nightmares with Kakashi were also the worst: he'd look at a nondescript somebody and smile, "I used to have someone precious to make up for those I lost, but then he ran away to pursue his own selfish interests. I don't know what happened to him, but he's probably dead now. I should have never tried saving him."

* * *

A month after Kabuto healed his wounds, Sasuke gets into a fight with a couple of Sound nin. He killed every single one of them, but he received gaping wounds and a broken right arm in the process. When he stumbles into the underground lair, Kabuto clucks disapprovingly before taking him to the infirmary. There, the cycle from a month before is repeated: his shirt is stripped off, his wounds cleaned accordingly, and Kabuto smiles all the while. Sasuke is proud that he didn't fall for the same tricks usually performed, and he thinks that Kabuto looks a little disappointed. 

However, when Kabuto goes about fixing his arm, Sasuke realizes that he has no reason to celebrate. He tries to ignore Kabuto's fingers as they prod his arm, causing him to twitch involuntarily and will himself not to make a sound.

Kabuto shakes his head while doing his business. "Orochimaru-sama won't be very pleased with you when he sees this. He'd prefer that you're as intact as possible."

"Why should you worry when you can fix me up again?" Sasuke's voice cracks near the end of that sentence, an attempt at bitterness failed.

Kabuto snickers. "Sasuke-kun, you wouldn't want to depend on me _that_ much."

Sasuke's eyes widen and he opens his mouth in response, but he notices that parts of his arm are going numb. He tries moving it only to receive stabbing pains in response. Unwittingly, he cries out.

"Sasuke-kun, you have to hold still." Sasuke forces himself to look at Kabuto, who's holding his arm tightly while applying pressure to chakra points. "You were very stupid today, and this is the result of that." Kabuto turns his head towards him, and Sasuke sees his eyes twinkle with unspoken laughter.

He tries not to remember, but he does. Kakashi is staring at him, leaning back in a chair with the magazine on the table. "Sasuke, don't be stupid," he says, leaning forward. "You're too smart to go down that path." And Sasuke wants to punch his face in, but he knows that he shouldn't even bother.

Then he's back to the blank whiteness of the infirmary. Kabuto is taking his gloves off, and Sasuke vaguely recalls ghostly whispers of, "You shouldn't use that for a while." His arm is no longer bent and grotesque, but hurts immensely.

He feels a pain in his left hand and lifts it. There is blood staining his nails, dribbling from his palm. He slid off the table and went to leave, but he hears the familiar squeak of rubber.

"Don't think I didn't see that. Nothing that happens to you gets by me."

For a moment, Sasuke thinks he believes that.


End file.
